Clearing The Air
by quokka
Summary: "The only time you ignore beautiful women," she said, trying hard to keep her smile in place, "is when you are in a relationship."


A/N: Imagine that, a Dead Air fic that doesn't bash Ziva and McGee.

* * *

"So," Ziva said as she sauntered into the break room and sat down facing Tony. His gaze drifted from the tub of ice cream towards her, his eyebrows raised. "How unattractive was she?" Ziva said.

His brow knit.

"The woman that was coming on to you." Realizing there had been more than one woman flirting with him when he was going door to door, she wiggled the ring finger of her left hand in front of his face. "The one you told you were married."

His mouth formed an O. Ziva narrowed her eyes for a split second, wondering if he was milking Ducky's medical advice to keep quiet.

"Heard that?" he said in a raspy voice, raising an eyebrow and grinning broadly. His knee bumped hers under the table, challenging her to keep up the joke and she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Of course I did. What, did you actually believe we turned off the radio?"

"If I believed that," Tony said and cleared his throat with a wince. "Would've head slapped you both through the windshield."

Ziva grimaced at the sound of his voice. She really shouldn't be encouraging him to speak. Curiosity got the better of her, though. And as a trained investigator, she couldn't simply let go of a lead.

"She sounded young," Ziva said as she tried to look into the tub of ice cream feigning disinterest in the conversation.

Tony shielded it with his arm and she glared at him until his face split into a grin again. He took out his phone and a few seconds later showed her a picture on IMDB of an actress.

"Looked like that," he said. He waggled his eyebrows when he delivered the second line. "In a bikini."

Ziva gave him a suspicious look but he nodded enthusiastically. His philandering ways were mostly behind him, but telling a gorgeous, half-naked woman he was married seemed a little excessive. She felt his forehead with the back of her hand, ignoring his questioning look. It didn't feel like he had a fever. She palmed the side of his face, not even clammy, but his eyes were dilated. Had they been when she walked in?

"Well, you are not hot-" Tony slammed the tub on the table and pouted, puffing out his chest. She chuckled and made a grab for a spoonful of ice cream. "Not feverish hot," she said and licked the spoon clean, not breaking eye contact.

"The only time you ignore beautiful women," she said, trying hard to keep her smile in place, "is when you are in a relationship."

Keeping eye contact was suddenly too difficult so she distracted herself by digging into the ice cream again. He put his warm hand over hers, stilling her motion, but ramping up her emotions. She could feel his eyes boring into her and knew she would have to look up and pretend she didn't feel as if her heart was in a vice.

"Do I know her?" Ziva asked as casually as she could, letting go of the spoon and trying to take her hand from his grip. He held on, though, and looked at her with an unreadable expression. He began to nod, then stopped and instead pointed at his throat with his free hand. "Can't talk."

Ziva sat up straighter. "You are yanking my leg."

His smile confused her, but not as much as his next word. "Chain."

Her eyebrows drew together. What did he mean? Was that a name or a reference?

"Abby?" Ziva said barely above a whisper. She stiffened when she realized she had said the name out loud.

Tony cocked his head and blinked rapidly. "Yank chain, pull leg," he said with another wince.

"You cannot talk but you are correcting my English?" She huffed at the shit-eating grin that appeared on his face and moved to stand up. His grip on her hand increased again and she slouched back in the chair. He held out the ice cream to her as a peace offering.

"I thought you hated sharing food with me."

"People change." Tony let out a cough. "You changed," he said and looked at her pointedly.

Ziva glanced around the break room, digesting the information. On the one hand, this conversation was leading into potentially dangerous territory and she hoped McGee would get a sudden craving for a Nutter Butter. On the other, this turning point was what she had been hoping for all along.

When she turned her attention back to him, Tony was still staring at her intently with that small smile he sometimes gave her when nobody else was around. The one that made her pulse flutter. The one that told her his interest in her wasn't purely platonic.

Ziva rubbed her earlobe absentmindedly and averted her gaze. "Perhaps," she said and looked him in the eye once more, "we should talk about this later." She grabbed a spoonful of ice cream and pointed it in his direction. "When your throat is healed."

His thumb caressed the back of her hand. "Tonight," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I doubt Ducky would approve." She chuckled lightly and dropped the spoon in the almost empty container.

He let out a raspy cough. "Not that much to say, really." He squeezed her hand and crinkles formed around his eyes.

Ziva tilted her head and couldn't stop the smile forming on her lips.

"There you guys are. Gibbs is on the warpath and asking for you. I need a Nutter Butter." McGee breezed by them, focused on the vending machine. Which was probably a good thing, considering Tony was still holding her hand for all the world to see.

The rest of McGee's rant fell on deaf ears as Tony winked and slowly let go of her hand. He finished the rest of the ice cream with one more scoop, stood up and looked her straight in the eye as he mouthed "Tonight."


End file.
